Have you ever dreamed about going shopping on the 5th Avenue in New York or at Oxford Street in London?
Or at any of their thousands Department Stores, Shopping Centres or Malls around the world? So what about we learn the vocabulary to make our shopping effective and successful?
As a customer, when you go shopping, you can get help from a shopping assistant, who will know the store like the back of their hand, and if you have any problem or complaint, you can check with the store manager, who will try to solve it.
When shopping for clothes, for example, once you have tried the clothes on in the fitting room and all the sizes you’ve chosen fit you, you can proceed to pay at the tills, where the cashiers will welcome you with a smile. There, you can pay by cash or by card -by popping your card in the reader and entering your pin code– buy any products on promotion or ask for a refund if you are not happy with the products you purchased, in order to do this, make sure you keep your receipt!!! If you don’t want to return the items, but you are still unhappy with them, you can try an exchange.
What about making presents?
If you are not sure about what to get, you can buy them a gift card, you will succeed for sure!!! And if you know what they need, just request a gift receipt, that way the receiver of the gift will be able to exchange or return the items, or they simply won’t be able to see the value of your gift.
Whether you are a shopaholic who cannot resist the thrill of being the first to get the latest trend, or just shop when you need to, shopping is a great way to communicate with lots of different people, and it really helps to boost your confidence in speaking English!
Here are some sentences that will be very useful during the shopping process:
Opening times
Questions:
What time are you open until?
What time do you close today?
Are you open on the weekends?
Are you open all day?
What are your opening hours?
Are you open on Sundays?
What time do you open tomorrow?
Responses:
We’re open from 9am to 6pm.
We’re open on weekdays only (Monday to Friday).
We’re open from 10am to 8pm.
We’re open 7 days a week.
We’re open 24/7 (24 hours a day, 7 days a week).
We’re closed at lunchtime, between 12pm and 2pm.
We’re closed on Bank Holidays (national holidays).
Selecting goods
Assistant’s Questions:
Can / May I help you?
Can I help you find something?
What colour would you like?
What size would you like?
Is there anything else I can help you with?
Would you like to try it on?
Is that any good?
What can I do for you?
How does it fit?
How about this one?
Anything else?
Would you like anything else?
Customer’s Questions:
Excuse me, do you work here?
Could you help me please?
I’m looking for a ….
I’m trying to find a ….
Could you tell me where the …. is, please?
How much is this?
How much are these?
How much does this cost?
How much is that …. in the window?
Where can I find the …. ?
Do you sell …. ?
Do you have any … ?
Would you have this in another colour?
Have you got anything cheaper?
Do you have something less pricey (expensive)?
Do you have this item in stock?
Do you have a smaller/bigger/larger size?
Do you know where else I could try?
Does it come with a guarantee/warranty?
Where is the changing/fitting room?
Is there somewhere I can try it/this/them on, please?
Where can I weigh my groceries?
Do/Can you deliver?
Do you have a refund policy?
Is this in the sale?
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Assistant’s Responses:
I’m afraid that’s the only colour we have.
Sorry, we don’t have any more in stock.
Sorry, we don’t sell those / them here.
I’m afraid we don’t have any more left.
I have exactly what you’re looking for.
This one is on sale right now!
It comes with a manufacturer’s warranty.
It comes with a 1-year guarantee.
The changing / fitting rooms are that way.
The scales are by the counter over there. That’s where you can weigh your groceries.
That one is ….(price).
They’re ….(price) each.
You can get a refund if you keep the receipt safe, and bring it back within 2 weeks
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Cashier’s Questions:
Are you in the queue?
Are you being served?
Who’s next?
Next, please!
How would you like to pay?
Will that be cash or credit?
Do you have a loyalty card?
Would you like a bag?
Can I help you with anything else?
Will that be all?
Would you like a gift receipt for that?
Would you like that gift wrapped?
Put your card into the machine, please.
Enter your PIN, please.
That comes to ….(price), please.
The total is ….(price).
That’s ….(price), please.
Customer’s Questions:
Do you take credit cards?
Can I pay by cheque, please?
Could I have a receipt, please?
Could I have a gift receipt, please?
Could you gift wrap that for me please?
Can I put one item back, please? I’ve changed my mind about this one.
Could I leave my bags here, and pick them up later, please?
Do you offer a cash discount?
Does it have a warranty / guarantee?
Cashier’s Responses:
We take / accept all major credit cards.
Sorry, we don’t accept cheques.
I’m afraid we take cash only.
We’re offering 6 months credit, with no deposit, if you’re interested.
Customer’s Responses:
I’ll pay in cash
I’ll pay by card
Here’s ….(money), keep the change!
That’s it for today.
That’s all, thanks.
Thank you. Have a good day!
Returns and complaints
Who can I speak to about making a complaint?
Could I have a refund please?
Can I speak to the manager please?
I’d like to return this please.
I’d like to make a complaint.
I’d like to change this for a different size please.
Do you have the original receipt?
Did you buy it from one of our other stores?
Can I ask why you’re returning it please?
Can I ask why you’ve changed your mind please?
Responses:
It doesn’t work.
It doesn’t fit.
It was a gift, but I don’t like it.
It was a gift, but the person I bought it for doesn’t like it.
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“Ya sabes que en nuestra academia de inglés Welcome to English te vamos ayudar aprender de la mejor forma posible”
